The company aims at commencing its exports in the next three to four months.

The company will start exporting the Quanto to neigbhouring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka besides South Africa to begin within the next three to four months, which would be followed by Europe and Latin America, M&M president for automotive & farm equipment sectors Pawan Goenka said after the launch.

"The Quanto which is our first compact SUV, will create a new category within the SUV segment," he said, adding the Mahindra is aiming to sell around 200 units a month initially.

The home grown auto major currently sells around 2,500 units of Xylo per month.

The sub-4-meter Quanto, priced in the range of Rs 5.82 to Rs 7.36 lakh, is designed and developed on the Ingenio platform, which is the same as the one for the Xylo.

The company has invested Rs 100 crore in developing the five-seater Quanto, Goenka said, adding the new car will be produced at its Nashik facility.

M&M has a combined capacity of 7,000 units for the Xylo and the Quanto, he said. Quanto will face competition from recently launched Duster by Renault in the compact SUV segment.

The French auto major has priced the Duster between Rs 8.35 and 11.8 lakh.